Team captain Larysa Euteneur and team members Caroline Schmitz, Julia Aas and Nikki Burghardi participate in a lengthy warmup session to ensure all the muscles to be used in the Winterguard performance are warm and ready. (PAUL WAHL SUN NEWSPAPERS)

Allowing students to play with guns in the school gym would be considered, at the least, unusual today. However, in this case, the students are rewarded for their endeavor.

First, readers need to know, the guns are not real. They're the faux weapons of choice for Eden Prairie High School's Winterguard team.

The rifles are made out of wood but they have plastic bolts and leather straps, said Molly Norton, one of the team's coaches.

"Modern-day colorguard evolved from military colorguards, - which also still exist - the units who carry the national flag and protect it by carrying weapons," Norton said. "So, that is why we spin weapons in performances that look like rifles and sabres.

She said some teams are experimenting with spinning props that don't resemble weapons.

It is unquestionably one of the school's least-known sports, but don't let obscurity fool you.

"These students train as hard for their sport as the basketball team or the football team," said Jeffrey Peterson, another of the four coaches of the team and an Eden Prairie High School grad.

Practice is three nights a week and often runs more than three hours, including a lengthy warmup to prevent injuries.

Difficult to describe, the best way to experience Winterguard is to watch a performance.

The 17-member all-female team will be on the floor during its home show at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Eden Prairie High School Gym.

Peterson said the sport combines the grace of dance with the athleticism of gymnastics and the beauty of yoga.

"It combines the equipment, tools and training of our fall color guard, takes place in gymnasiums, is performed to prerecorded music and provides students and audiences an experience unlike anything else around," said Diane Hanson, a parent of a Winterguard performer and fan of the sport.

"Winterguard was invented for colorguard performers who weren't practicing in the winter but need an option to perform their craft over the winter," said Peterson, who was on the EPHS team as a student.

Just as marching band musicians would lose their edge by not practicing all winter, colorguard performers face the same fate.

The team competes several times throughout the year. A state tournament is at the end of the season.

At the heart of the competition is a visually striking performance. This year, the team is using a version of "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor as its muse.

"The concept we're using in the show involves a lot of partnering," Peterson said.

The team members are clad in dark and light purple costumes and throughout the performance the interplay between the colors forms a primary visual theme.

Peterson said the song is less about actual fire as in flames and rain as in water than it is about "longing for someone who has left you and wanting to come back to that person."

Judges score the performance on design, movement and general effect - how moving it is for the audience.

Each of the four coaches has a specific responsibility. Peterson works with design and choreography, as well as movement training.

Norton is also part of the overall design team and choreographs the use of flags in the presentation. Stina Urban teaches dance moves and Tracy Burns coordinates the weapons aspect.

The team competes in the Scholastic A Class of the North Star Circuit with nine other schools. Eden Prairie placed first in its first two competitions this year at Totino Grace and Henry Sibley high schools. Last year, the squad took second in the championships and earned the academic excellence award for the highest team GPA. Eden Prairie took second in the North Star Circuit last year and is pushing for a first-place finish this year.

This year's world championships will be in Dayton, Ohio, in April.

Peterson said the squad is always looking for athletes to be part of the program.

"We'll be graduating six or seven seniors this year so we'd like to add about 10 more team members for the fall," Peterson said.

Auditions will be in May.

This year's EPHS Winterguard participants include Larysa Euteneur, Emily Hanson, Brittany Ottum, Brooke DeJong, Kristy Romo, Laura Windram, Abby Wacholz, Caroline Schmitz, Kate Wehrs, Julie Aas, Angie Maharaj, T-sa Wehrs, Megan Beneke, Jessica Hanson, Erin Peterson, Nikki Burghardi and Natalie Ottum.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.

"Winterguard was invented for colorguard performers who weren't practicing in the winter but need an option to perform their craft over the winter," said Peterson, who was on the EPHS team as a student.

Just as marching band musicians would lose their edge by not practicing all winter, colorguard performers face the same fate.

The team competes several times throughout the year. A state tournament is at the end of the season.

At the heart of the competition is a visually striking performance. This year, the team is using a version of "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor as its muse.

"The concept we're using in the show involves a lot of partnering," Peterson said.

The team members are clad in dark and light purple costumes and throughout the performance the interplay between the colors forms a primary visual theme.

Peterson said the song is less about actual fire as in flames and rain as in water than it is about "longing for someone who has left you and wanting to come back to that person."

Judges score the performance on design, movement and general effect - how moving it is for the audience.

Each of the four coaches has a specific responsibility. Peterson works with design and choreography, as well as movement training.

Norton is also part of the overall design team and choreographs the use of flags in the presentation. Stina Urban teaches dance moves and Tracy Burns coordinates the weapons aspect.

The team competes in the Scholastic A Class of the North Star Circuit with nine other schools. Eden Prairie placed first in its first two competitions this year at Totino Grace and Henry Sibley high schools. Last year, the squad took second in the championships and earned the academic excellence award for the highest team GPA. Eden Prairie took second in the North Star Circuit last year and is pushing for a first-place finish this year.

This year's world championships will be in Dayton, Ohio, in April.

Peterson said the squad is always looking for athletes to be part of the program.

"We'll be graduating six or seven seniors this year so we'd like to add about 10 more team members for the fall," Peterson said.

Auditions will be in May.

This year's EPHS Winterguard participants include Larysa Euteneur, Emily Hanson, Brittany Ottum, Brooke DeJong, Kristy Romo, Laura Windram, Abby Wacholz, Caroline Schmitz, Kate Wehrs, Julie Aas, Angie Maharaj, T-sa Wehrs, Megan Beneke, Jessica Hanson, Erin Peterson, Nikki Burghardi and Natalie Ottum.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.